Office-door indicator.



Nd. 787,860. PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1903'. 5 J. 1). NIFONGL OFFICE DOOR INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NIB. 4, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented September 1, 1903.

JEFFERSON D. NIFONG, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

OFFICE-DOOR INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 737,860, dated September 1, 1903. Application filed February 4, 1903. Serial No. 141,812. No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEFFERSON D. NIFONG, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Office-Door Indicators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to an indicator for application to the door of an office to furnish information to callers concerning the presonce or absence of the occupant of the office and the time of return if absent.

The invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure I is a perspective view of my indicator. Fig. II is a horizontal section taken on line II 11, Fig. I. Fig. III is a vertical section showing a portion of the rear wall of the indicator-box and a bell mounted thereon in elevation. Fig. IV is a face View of the announcement-card located at the front of the indicator-box. Fig. V is a face view of the return-announcement disk.

1 designates a box which constitutes the main body of my indicator and is formed with rearWardly-projecting side walls-2 and top and bottom walls 3 and 4. A portion of the top wall 3 is out out and bent upwardly in the form of a tongue 4, that bears the words Leave message or words of similar import. The cutting out of the tongue 4 provides an aperture 5 through which messages may be dropped into the interior of the box to be collected by the occupant of the office on his return after an absence.

6 is the rear wall of the box, which is connected to the top wall 3 by hinges 7, so that the box may be swung away from its rear wall to open it, while the rear wall remains in a fixed position against the door, to which it is connected by suitable means, such as screws, as indicated at 8, Fig. III.

9 designates a pocket mounted on the front wall of the indicator-box 1 to hold slips of paper or cards for the use of callers to write messages to be dropped into the box, and projecting from one side of said pocket is a tongue 10 to receive a pencil, as indicated by dotted lines, Fig. I.

11 designates flanged strips secured to the front wall of the indicator-box and within which is confined an announcement-card 12 bearing the words In-ring belland Out return or words of similar import. Beneath the words indicating that the occupant of the office is out and will return is an orifice 13.

14 is a slide provided with a knob 15 and seated within the flanged strips 11 in front of the announcement-card 12, said slide being adapted to be moved within said strips to cover either the portion of the announcementcard bearing indication of the presence of the occupant of the office or his absence and to expose the other portion of said card.

16 designates a return-announcementdisk bearing a plurality of time indications, as seen in Fig. V. This disk is centrally mounted back of the front wall of. the indicatorbox, being rotatively supported by a pivot 17. (See Fig. II.) The time indications on the disk 16 are so positioned thereon as to traverse the orifice 13 in the announcementcard 12, a corresponding orifice 1 being cut through the front wall of the indicator-box at the location of the orifice in the announcement-card. The announcement-disk 16 projects through a slot 4 in the bottom wall of the box, (see Fig. 11,) so as to project beneath the box, as seen in Fig. I, to be engaged by a persons fingers for the purpose of rotating the disk 16 to bring indication on said disk indicating the time the occupant will return to a position back of the returnannouncement portion of the card 12 when said return-announcement is exposed.

18 designates a gong mounted on the rear wall (5 of the indicator-box and adapted to be struck by a spring-controlled hammer 19, to be engaged by a spring-controlled finger-1ever 20, the outer end of which projects through a slot in the indicator-box, as seen in Figs. 1 and III, to be engaged by the fingers of the caller to sound the gong 18 and announce his presence to the occupant of the office in accordance with the instructions borne by the announcement-card 12, indi-. cating that the occupant of the oifice is in.

21 designates a receptacle mounted on the front of the indicator-box for the reception of matches or other small articles that the owner of the indicator may care to furnish orifice, a slide for covering a portion of said card and disclosing its remainder, a rotatable disk bearing time indications and adapted to traverse the orifice in said card, substantially as set forth.

3. In an office-indicator, the combination of abox, flanged strips mounted upon the face of said box, an announcement-card positioned Within said flanged strips, and a slide movably mounted Within said flanged strips to cover a portion of said announcement-card and disclose its remainder, substantially as set forth.

JEFFERSON D. NIFONG. In presence of- E. S. KNIGHT, M. P. SMITH. 

